I've got everything disconnected and I'm ready to pull the engine. I've got the cherry picker coming in from the driver side. It doesn't lift high enough for the top part of the engine mount to clear the bottom part of the engine mount. I have the trans supported with my floor jack and wood. Do I have to remove the top parts of the engine mounts to do this? And then, how do I get the engine and bellhousing to come free of the trans?
Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

 

I had to remove the mounts to pull mine with the trans connected.

 

The ones attached to the engine, or the frame?

 

Both. I had to remove them completely to get the clearance.

 

Remove the bellhousing and the clutch before removing the engine. At that point you come up with the engine and then move forward a bit then straight out.

 

You are working on a manual?

 

Wonderful. I tried to take the one off of the engine and the third bolt wouldn't come out. I'll try going under the car tonight. Do I remove the one that is attached to the frame from below the car as well?

 

Yes, it's a manual. I'm trying to avoid pulling the trans. I've read that I can unbolt the bellhousing from the trans and pull it out with the engine. It sounds like a much easier way to check the clutch and flywheel, plus I don't have to manhandle that heavy ZF while I'm at it.

 

How is that working out for you? You are struggling now, just wait till you are trying to get the input shaft from the trans aligned on install.

I'd be interested in seeing who said that bit of info.

Manhandle? Ideally you have a trans jack. At minimum a floor jack. There is no manhandling. It is 60-90 minutes to drop the transmission.


Look at the bonus, you get to check the driveshaft, the u-joints, clean up the ZF at the same time.

 

You will have to drop the trans.

 

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On a 4+3 I know it's very doable

Mine

On a ZF6 tho, I have no clue

 

flannel, did you reinstall like that too? the issue i would see almost insurmountable would be is the restabbing of the trans input shaft into that. it might technically be possible but i cant see it.

maybe…just maybe…because the clutch assembly wasn’t disturbed , the alignment would be easy. but then, who is doing this and not replacing rms and inspecting clutch for wear.

ive reinstalled 8 or so trannies and its always the last inch thats an issue. i cannotimagine how this could work but i could be wrong

 

Viking, actually yes, I did reinstall it that way as well. The clutch had less than 5k miles on it, so I reused it all. Still have the alignment tool hanging on the pegboard next to the one for my F350s ZF6. I was actually expecting it to be a nightmare since about 2 months earlier I had helped my dad replace the hydraulic TO bearing in his F250s ZF5 . That thing fought us for every millimeter for a couple hours and all we did was roll the transmission back to replace the bearing and then roll it forward, nothing changed rotationally for alignment. By comparison the 4+3 somehow magically aligned perfectly and the engine slid right in place

The last inch shouldn't give you any issues. By that point you have your bolts in and everything should be aligned, the only thing to possibly fight you would be the input shaft bearing. Try this if you are stabbing the transmission to the engine, get new bolts of the same thread pitch as the mounting bolts, as long as possible. Then grind the hex head off, just the hex pattern, keep as much length as possible. Then cut a slot in the head end for a flat screwdriver. Boom. Alignment studs. Run them in a couple threads, but don't get them tight, cause you'll be backing them out via screwdriver. Line up the mounting holes to your alignment studs and shove er home till a bolt is long enough to grab and crank it together swapping studs for bolts as possible


Here's some of the ones I used on
My ZF6 clutch adventure

You can see where the hex head was before they were turned down in the lathe

 

Excellent way to break a mounting ear off the transmission case. If you're really unlucky, the broken ear will take enough of the case with it that it leaves a hole in the case for oil to leak from. You won't get away with using only 3 bolts.

You've got to be sure the trans will insert until both surfaces are touching each other, before you tighten any bolts.

 

Then I guess I should reword it as, turn the bolts in a controlled manner to pull the 2 halves together evenly.

I'm not suggesting you use it like a ball joint press, and if the mounting ears are that soft and fragile they wouldn't be able to hold the transmission in place under hard acceleration. If you're down there cranking on it with a 2ft cheater bar and are bound up yeah I could see that happening. Otherwise it's just pulling the 2 halves together in a controlled manner. Just watch the gap between the bell housing and transmission and keep it even vs snugging down just 1 bolt and getting all skewed and bound up